Eat Happy, Be Happy

Main menu

Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

As I was beginning to make these scrumptious Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I was reminded of my first cookie baking experience back when I was 8 years old. My neighborhood friend, Elizabeth was over and we decided to make up a batch of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies to snack on using the recipe from the inside of the lid of Quaker Oats. The recipe had two columns of ingredients and as we set out to make them the two of us weren’t paying attention to who was plopping what into the bowl. It wasn’t until later did we realize we put in maybe half of the ingredients…that was our first error. The dough was moist, however, and would hold together in a cookie dough ball shape. We thought we were professional chefs! Into the oven the little cookie balls went, and I had the novel idea to lock the oven door shut so no heat could escape. To my surprise when I tried to open the lock as the alarm was sounding it wouldn’t budge. Frantically we called my mother over and she informed us that when the oven gets locked it goes into a self-cleaning mode, raising the temperature to an extraordinarily high degree for an extended period of time. All we could do is wait and watch our cookies burn. Once the oven was done self-cleaning we removed the cookie sheet and examined the evidence. When trying to lift the cookies from the pan they crumbled into a granola-like consistency. My mom was daring enough to taste these failed cookies and to all of our surprise it was delicious! We topped vanilla ice cream with the granola and enjoyed our little snack that we had created. Professional chefs without a doubt.

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups raisins

(Adapted from Bon Appetit)

Gather all your ingredients. I forgot to put the butter in this picture because it was warming up in the sunny window!

If you have fresh nutmeg I highly recommend you use it, otherwise jarred nutmeg works just fine.

Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add in one egg at a time, mixing until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl each time.

After the eggs are incorporated, mix in the vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the flour mixture on low.

Add in the oats and raisins and mix slowly until just incorporated.

Divide the dough in half between two long pieces of wax paper.

Using the wax paper to help you, roll the dough into two long logs. Wrap tightly in the paper and place in your freezer for at least 2 hours.

Remove one log at a time from the freezer and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices.

I love the way the sliced oatmeal looks!

Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered in a Silpat mat or parchment paper about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a cooling rack.

This recipe makes 4 dozen cookies. The cookie dough can remain in the freezer for up to 3 weeks so you can make one log at a time if you’d like. Enjoy!!!